Bhubaneswar: War of words between BJD and BJP over Odisha Minister Naba Das murder further intensified on Wednesday with ruling party MLA Rudra Pratap Maharathy raising accusing fingers at Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jayanarayan Mishra in the crime.
The Pipilii MLA’s claim came a day after Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Pramila Mallik alleged that Mishra and Pradhan were scared and were making all kinds of charges to save themselves as the Crime Branch probe in Naba Das Murder case is heading towards them.
Maharathy claimed that during the Padampur Assembly by-election, Naba Das had stated that Dharmendra and Mishra were using force and intimidating him. The two BJP leaders were asking Naba Das to stay away from the bypoll, he claimed.
“He (Naba) had also told me that he is not scared by intimidation. Die to his efficient poll management, the result was good for us,” the BJD legislator said.
Claiming that the involvement of the BJP leaders in the murder case is suspected, he said their role should be investigated to ascertain the facts.
Hitting back at Maharathy, BJP MLA Suryabanshi Suraj sought to know as to why a senior leader like Naba Das needed to discuss these things with the BJD legislator.
If at all Naba Das was intimidated, he could have spoken to the Chief Minister, taken up the matter with the Election Commission and sought police intervention, Suraj said.
“All these show there is a conspiracy by the ruling party to divert people’s attention from the sensational murder case,” he said, adding that the case should be handed over to CBI to ensure a fair, impartial and transparent probe.
